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Another option would be to issue a "limited edition" coin like many others have done, with a different finish on it for $2.00 more. I think the coin boom has passed, the 2005 coin sold over 2000, the 2007 sold a little over 500.

A limited edition coin - primarily for fundraising - is an EXCELLENT IDEA!

As I remember, the 2005 coin was selling on eBay for upwards of $30 at one time. Sheesh!

How about getting an order of pathtags for geocaching maine. You could easily sell them for 2.00 and make money back and then some. Pathtags are selling for up to 10.00 each on ebay and they are very collectable.

As I said and will continue to say, if we do not get one red cent I will still continue to keep this web site going until someone on WhiteBlaze administrators catches on and that may never happen or it could happen tomorrow. I wished I had never said anything but it needs to be kept in the back of every ones minds in case I have to come on here someday and ask for money to keep the web site going. Right now I am just trying to keep some type of donations of cash coming in to appease them if the question ever arises.

I really did not want to have to get into the fine details of all this because there is a lot to explain. Basically for what we are using for the server it would cost us between $60 and $70 a month to do what we have on any other server. The reason it is so much is because we are set up to have full control of a section on the server. Unlike other host or providers that give you a small control panel and limit what you can do.

As I stated I am not complaining about not getting money for the server space we are using. I will keep this web site going on my server until one of my other administrators on WhiteBlaze sites bitches or starts asking questions about it. This could happen tomorrow or it may never happen. I am just trying to prepare so in case it does happen so I can show them the books and say “this is what Geocaching Maine has been paying”. Right now we are only paying about $100 per year. That is darn dirt cheap and I will probably get some crap over this if it ever gets noticed but I will deal with it.

I was looking things over and reassessing the usage and doing some crunching and I think I can get a happy medium that would keep them happy if there were ever to catch on. I think I could convince them that $25 a month would be fine for what we are using for our part of the server and that would be $300 a year. This does not include the software renewals that we have every year at about $110. That would bring the grand total to $410 a year.

I could bring this down some by limiting things on the web site to donating members and things of that nature. I would like to share my opinions on this though.

Some have suggested closing the forums to donating members only. I think this is a bad idea. If this were ever to happen the web site would literally die. The reason web sites are successful are because they are usually free to use. If a web site is free then you are going to have a lot more using coming to it and participating on it. If we are trying to increase membership and encourage Geocaching then limiting the site would only defeat that goal.

Someone mentioned closing the gallery and if we did that it would save some bandwidth and we could get the price down on the server. Here is my opinion on that. It is just like the web site. The more photos people see then the more they see that Geocaching is fun sport and it encourages people to get out and try it. I like the galleries and like seeing where people have been and done while Geocaching.

I have said enough and as I stated in my first post. I really did not want to say anything because I was afraid people were going to think I was trying to make money off this web site and by some of the answers I get the feeling that some are thinking that. Here is my reply to that and my proposal. We will keep running the way we are and hopefully none of the WhiteBlaze administrators will catch on. If money is raised for the web site I will be more then happy to put it on the books so in case we are ever confronted we have some proof they were are attempting to carry our weight. Maybe we will not ever get confronted, believe me I am not going to say anything. However if we ever get confronted then we will have to cross that bridge.

Well stated

I think that those of us the personally know you Rick are well aware that making money from GCMe has never been your goal. You never want to take any money much less a profit. Thanks again from me for doing what you do to make this site work. In the 4 years you've been doing this we've always had to push money at you. I know from past talks you're just not comfortable asking for donations. So anyway....$410 a year is not that much on a site like this. We'll make that happen I'm sure......or at least I hope so.

Some have suggested closing the forums to donating members only. I think this is a bad idea. If this were ever to happen the web site would literally die. The reason web sites are successful are because they are usually free to use. If a web site is free then you are going to have a lot more using coming to it and participating on it. If we are trying to increase membership and encourage Geocaching then limiting the site would only defeat that goal.

Someone mentioned closing the gallery and if we did that it would save some bandwidth and we could get the price down on the server. Here is my opinion on that. It is just like the web site. The more photos people see then the more they see that Geocaching is fun sport and it encourages people to get out and try it. I like the galleries and like seeing where people have been and done while Geocaching.

I fully agree.

Aside from being a general chat board, the forums have answered countless numbers of geocaching questions - probably many that have kept a person caching rather than giving up.

And I've also said many times that the pictures in the galleries are great. I've lived all over the world, and lament the fact that I didn't take more pictures when I was there. So I really appreciate the fact that members are documenting their caching adventures and posting the pictures here for the rest of us to enjoy. (Jake's great trip pictures are a recent example.)

. . . So I really appreciate the fact that members are documenting their caching adventures and posting the pictures here for the rest of us to enjoy. (Jake's great trip pictures are a recent example.)

Thank you Bruce.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the realization that there is something more important than fear."

I think that those of us the personally know you Rick are well aware that making money from GCMe has never been your goal. You never want to take any money much less a profit. Thanks again from me for doing what you do to make this site work. In the 4 years you've been doing this we've always had to push money at you. I know from past talks you're just not comfortable asking for donations. So anyway....$410 a year is not that much on a site like this. We'll make that happen I'm sure......or at least I hope so.

I echo thanks to Rick for the site and insight with his post. There has never been a question of your motivation to promote the sport and at your own expense for a long time.

With awareness, I believe we can increase the cash flow this year. Again - thanks for a job well done!